What to do when you see someone wearing a lighthouse pin

A P.E.I. artist has designed a pin to help people navigate difficult conversations about physical distancing during the pandemic.

Lenny Gallant said he struggles with anxiety, and he was finding meeting people who might try to hug him or shake his hand was causing problems for him.

"I was experiencing a fair amount of anxiety personally," said Gallant.

"There's probably other people that are experiencing this out there as well. So I just wanted to supply something to kind of quell that."

The lighthouse pin is designed to be a signal to people that you are not comfortable with physical contact.

The perfect symbol

Gallant said he considered several different options before settling on a lighthouse as his symbol.

"A lighthouse, I mean, that's what it does. It tells a ship that, hey, you don't want to come too close to this. Rocky shores," he said.

"I thought the lighthouse was the perfect symbol for distancing."

Gallant has produced a video and is working with a marketing company to get the word out about what the lighthouse pin means.

Even if they don't know what it means, he said people notice the pin right away and often comment on it, which opens the conversation about why he's wearing it.

Gallant said he has sold about 200 of the pins. They are $10 each, and $1 from each sale goes to the Canadian Mental Health Association.

The pins are available on his website, Birdmouse.

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